http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com Just another WordPress weblog Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:17:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here I've been writing about advertising, marketing, economics and business for the last several years thinking others shared my fascination with these subjects, (and meanwhile harvesting an average of about one comment for every five posts). Then I go and post one little thing about an obscure book I stumbled ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/07/26/reading-between-the-lines/ I generally think of myself as a fairly well read person. Not that I've tackled every book worth reading written in the last 5,000 years, but I was under the impression I'd at least heard of them all. And I was wrong, as my wife (who's maddeningly good at this) ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/07/21/focus-group-of-one/ So far I've heard from three readers in response to my last post/poll. Not exactly a groundswell of support, but heartfelt all the same. Consensus would seem to be, as Pam Morrell put it: "If you are talking to ad creatives like me, you are preaching to the already converted." ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/06/20/early-returns/ Back when I was finishing college in San Francisco and trying to figure out what exactly one was supposed to do with a BFA (besides turning it into an MFA), I used to take these endless walks and would occasionally find myself in a little tunnel that ran between the ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/06/16/girl-in-a-tunnel/ Some droll economist (an admittedly rare combination) once made the observation that statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is intriguing, but what they conceal is vital. Which is exactly how I felt about a New York Times article I read a few weeks ago. Why will become obvious momentarily, ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/06/02/beats-a-maillot-i-guess/ At a time when the average person has a hard time finding his or her ass--let alone half the world's countries--with both hands and a Garvin Nuvi, this might seem like a hopelessly out of date subject. But, since I'm in the process of putting together a talk for some ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/05/19/geography-lesson/ Every once in a while I run across a small article, (in this instance, three short columns buried at the bottom of the page in yesterday's New York Times) that truly speaks volumes. This one bore the headline: "Citi's New Slogan Is Said to Be Second Choice." And what I ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/05/13/sleeper/ If this were just a book, it would certainly be a swell one. I've known that since I read the first edition some time ago. And this 3rd edition is no different. Well, maybe a little different, but I'll get to that anon. The main thing here is: This is ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/05/07/a-reading-from-luke-chapters-68/ Probably because the first time I heard this industry axiom I was in the midst of having my copy worked over, word by word, for the umpteenth time by the legendary wordsmith, Tom Thomas, I found it a little hard to accept. And I don't think I was entirely ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/04/28/no-one-reads-the-body-copy/ Half the battle of getting something right is figuring out what you did wrong. And 90% of that battle is admitting you did anything wrong in the first place. That's why I found a recent article in The Wall Street Journal about Starbucks' uber-strategist, Michelle Gass, so encouraging. Here's a ... http://www.ordinaryadvertising.com/2008/04/23/venti-ordinary/